Applicability of the pediatric evaluation of disability inventory in Slovenia

In the process of developmental (re)habilitation, determination of the functional abilities of an individual is an important step. For that we need appropriate measurement instruments. Because we do not have such measurement instruments in Slovenia, we chose the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI), translated it, and applied it in daily practice to assess its usefulness and applicability. The purpose of the study was to find out whether the functional abilities of the population of Slovene children evaluated with the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory is comparable to the American normative data. We also wanted to assess the possible influence of gender, parent education, community size, and the presence of siblings on children's functional abilities. The Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory was administered in the form of a structured interview to the parents of 147 healthy children in three age groups (0.5-1 year, 3-3.5 years, and 5-5.5 years) in different health care centers in Slovenia. Data analysis showed significant differences in functional skills and caregiver assistance scale scores when comparing the Slovene sample with the American normative data, particularly in the youngest age group. Slovene children were found consistently to be different (scoring either higher or lower) from American children at comparable ages in several functional skills and caregiver assistance scales. The analysis also confirmed the importance of gender and the presence of siblings for gaining higher scores on some of the functional skills and caregiver assistance scales. The level of parent education did not prove to have a significant impact on the results. Our results suggest that the American normative data are not completely appropriate for reference purposes in Slovenia. The results are in agreement with the findings of other studies, demonstrating the importance of ascertaining intercultural differences. We believe that adaptation and norming of the Slovene version of the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory are necessary before using the instrument in clinical practice in our country.